‘Morning Momentum’ gains traction in Knoxville business community
The event series is one of the newest programs from the Knoxville Chamber.
“Morning Momentum” is quickly becoming one of the most popular Knoxville Chamber event series, and that’s largely due to the format.
It originated with Mike Odom, the President of the Knoxville Chamber. He wanted to create a space where local emerging founders can ask questions and advice from established local business leaders. The idea has resulted in notable success, namely in helping establish connections and strategic partnerships between large corporations and start-ups.
In this month’s “Morning Momentum,” Justin Li, the Founder of Qore Performance, and Simba Jonga, the Founder of Laborup presented to a room full of corporate executives, established founders, and ecosystem partners.
Li went first, explaining his novel heating, cooling, and hydration vest technology that is utilized by mega- corporations, manufacturing facilities, the United States’ Military, and individual consumers. His company has seen major success; however, Li sought advice on hiring middle-level managers and executive leadership teams.
Right now, Li has about 15 employees at Qore Performance. However, most of those individuals are Gen Z and newer to the workforce. With this, Li finds himself spending a lot of time on training, teaching workplace etiquette, and striving to maintain good workplace culture.
“How can I find someone who has good, technical, analytical, and business skills, while also being a good leader and mentor for a predominately Gen Z workforce?” Li asked.
A handful of answers came forward, one – very important.
“Finding the right person takes time. Finding a great character fit comes first,” said Alicia Turner, the Owner of Turner Recruiting and Consulting. “It takes a long interview process, over the course of a few weeks to determine who people really are, and if they will be a good cultural fit.”
Other executives at the event suggested running recruits for executive positions through a series of personality tests, DISC assessments, and allow them to meet the team they would be working with.
Brandon Bruce suggested that Li ask entry-level applicants the same questions that he would ask a C-suite applicant.
“This will help you decide if this person has good potential for upward mobility in the company,” Bruce said.
Jonga presented his digital platform – Laborup next. The company is less than a year old, with a team of five full-time employees and three part-timers. So far, the app has reached 10,000 workers, with more than 1,000 active users, and a 2x month over month track-record of growth. (See teknovation.biz article from June 2024).
“In Tennessee, there are more than 2,000 job openings in manufacturing, and we want to plug the right people into those positions,” he said.
The main opportunity he wanted to address yesterday was figuring out how Laborup can best partner with the government and educational institutions, like trade and technical schools, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense. Currently, these agencies are not Laborup’s core users/customers. However, Jonga said they share many of the same core initiatives to help people.
“Having good relationships and tangible partnerships allows us to better serve both of our users — workers and companies,” Jonga said.
So far, he’s done a great job in East Tennessee. Laborup has targeted small-to-medium sized manufacturers to list jobs and recruit local talent; however, Jonga is ready to expand that market.
The audience suggested Laborup approach those organizations from the perspective of being a resource versus a business pitch.
If you are a Founder or small business owner looking for advice on how to grow, scale, and gain momentum, apply to present here.
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